This document corrects and replaces the press release that was sent today at 8:15 AM EST.

According to the results of the Rental Market Survey conducted by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the overall vacancy rate for Quebec's urban centres rose slightly over October of last year, having reached 3.0 per cent in 2012, compared to 2.6 per cent in 2011.

As expected, the increase reflected the situation observed in the province's census metropolitan areas (CMAs) as a whole. In addition, all CMAs in Quebec, except Sherbrooke, registered statistically significant increases in their vacancy rates.

Elsewhere across the province, only 25 per cent of Quebec's agglomerations with 10,000 to 99,999 inhabitants posted decreases in their vacancy rates.

"The changes in rental market conditions across Quebec continued to reflect the effects of the fundamentals on supply and demand. Rental housing supply remained generally stagnant in several large urban centres in Quebec over the past year. Over the same period, demand, while having remained strong, likely softened on account of the greater movement to homeownership and the formation of fewer young renter households," said Kevin Hughes, regional Economist at CMHC for the province of Quebec.

The average rent for all Quebec urban centres reached $662 in October this year. The averages were about $515 for bachelor apartments and nearly $800 for units with three or more bedrooms. While the provincial average generally reflected the situation for CMAs as a whole, the Montréal, Québec and Gatineau areas stood out with average rents hovering around $700, whereas the other three CMAs had monthly averages of around $550.

When excluding new structures, it is estimated that, since October 2011, the average rent in Quebec has risen by 0.7 per cent. Last year at the same time, the estimated change at the provincial level was 2.6 per cent over October 2010. "The smaller increase this year was probably not unrelated to the easing observed on several markets this year," added Kevin Hughes.

In the Montréal CMA, about 11 per cent of the condominiums were rental units in October 2012, a slightly higher proportion than that estimated last year (9.3 per cent). As well, the vacancy rate for these dwellings remained relatively stable, at 2.7 per cent, this year.

In the Québec CMA, the condominium housing stock also increased (from 6.3 per cent in 2011 to 9.0 per cent in 2012). The vacancy rate remained unchanged this year from 2011 (at 2.2 per cent) and comparable to the rate on the purpose-built rental market (2.0 per cent).

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 65 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable housing solutions. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making informed decisions.

For more information, visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642. CMHC Market Analysis standard reports are also available free for download at CMHC Housing Market Information.